22 percent of RI children living in poverty
Over one-fifth of kids in Rhode Island living in poverty; highest level in New England
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) -- More than a fifth of children in Rhode Island are living in poverty, and over 10 percent are in extreme poverty.
New Census data released Thursday show that 21.9 percent of children in the state fell below the federal poverty line in 2011. That's the highest child poverty level of the six New England states. Rhode Island ranked 27th in the U.S.
Eleven percent of Rhode Island children were living in extreme poverty.
The executive director of the advocacy group Rhode Island Kids Count, Elizabeth Burke Bryant, says poor children are more likely to have health and behavioral problems, become teen parents and be unemployed as adults.
The data come from the Census Bureau's American Community Survey.
